Students may appeal the decision of the Research Degrees Board regarding:
(a) PhD Confirmation of Registration assessments or reassessments;
(b) Final examination for the award of MPhil or PhD;
(c) Final re-examination for the award of MPhil or PhD;
(d) Recommendation for termination of a student’s research degree registration.
Students may also appeal the decision of an Academic Misconduct Panel.
Grounds for Appeal: Students may appeal the decision of the Research Degrees Board or an Academic Misconduct Panel where it can be demonstrated that:
- there has been a material administrative error or;
- that any assessment, in whatever format, was not conducted in accordance with current regulations or;
- that some other material irregularity has occurred.
Disagreement with the academic judgement of an assessor, examiner or group of examiners cannot in itself constitute grounds for an Academic Appeal. Students must be aware that appeals will only be accepted under the circumstances outlined above. Appeals that do not meet the criteria will be deemed ineligible.
Submission deadlines: There are strict deadlines for the submission of an Academic Appeal or Academic Misconduct Appeal. Students must lodge the appeal with the Student Governance office, using the current form, within 10 working days of the notification of the Research Degrees Board or Academic Misconduct Panel. Stage 2 submissions must be submitted within 10 working days of the notification of the outcome of the Stage 1 appeal. The University reserves the right to reject appeals if they are submitted outside the specified deadline.
Process Summary: The University operates a two-stage appeal procedure. Students will be formally notified of the outcome of each stage of the appeal process, the reason for the decision and any action to be taken, as appropriate. Where an appeal is upheld, the nominated respondent will recommend appropriate action to the Research Degrees Board depending on the nature of the appeal:
- That the original decision be reconsidered;
- That the candidate be permitted to undertake a further oral assessment event;
- That new confirmation assessors be appointed; or
- That new examiners be appointed; or
- That a new Academic Misconduct Panel be convened.
Note: any recommendations made must be formally approved by the University Research Degrees Board and will normally be implemented within 90 calendar days.
Where the appeal is not upheld, students will be advised of the procedure to progress to the next stage.
Stage 1: Consideration of Appeal by a nominated respondent. A nominated respondent is responsible for ensuring that consideration of Stage 1 Academic Appeals is conducted fairly and within the appropriate timescales, normally within 15 working days of the receipt of the Appeal. The nominated respondent should not be substantially associated with the student and should not be a member of the Research Degrees Board or Academic Misconduct Panel in which the original decision was made.
The response to the Stage 1 Appeal must include an explanation in support of the decision.
The nominated respondent will respond to the appeal with the outcome reported to the Student Governance Office within the timescale outlined in the Submission deadlines above.
Final Review Stage: Where an appeal about either a Research Degrees Board or Academic Misconduct Panel decision is not upheld at Stage 1 and the student believes that the appeals procedures have not been conducted properly then they have the right to proceed to Stage 2 of the procedure. Stage 2 is not a re-opening of the appeal and the student must provide evidence of procedural irregularity and/or a supporting statement detailing why they believe the decision is incorrect.
A Completion of Procedures letter will be issued to the student when all internal procedures are exhausted. All internal procedures will normally be completed within 60 calendar days of the start of the formal stage (stage 1 appeal).
Students who are dissatisfied with the final outcome of their appeal and believe that the university has failed to follow this procedure correctly, may take their case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. Further information about the OIA can be found at: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/
Appeals against Expulsion: Where a student has been notified of the decision to expel them from the University, the student has a right of appeal to the Board of Governors. The request for such an appeal must be made in writing, giving full supporting evidence, to the University Secretary within 10 working days of receipt of the decision and giving grounds for appeal - see https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/public-information/student-regulations/guidance-policy-and-process
The university has a Student Complaints Procedure which applies to all students at Liverpool John Moores University. Details of the procedure are available here.
